What's the best summer home location 2-4 hours outside of Los Angeles for my wife, two bulldogs and I?

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ArtsyChic<3

Well my two favorite places in California near LA are Ojai and Santa Barbara.
In Ojai you just have the feeling you a free. It is surrounded by tons of mountains and orange groves. The air is fresh, none of the LA smog. The views are amazing and it has a nice downtown. You can take hikes there, and there is a lake near there as well. It is a great place for your dogs to run around. You can pick Sunkist oranges here too! It is not very populated either. Just stay clear of the touristy hotels.
Santa Barbara also has mountains and the ocean. No smog there either, nice fresh air. It has a bunch of stores and is a way bigger town than Ojai. Touristy though. Still very nice and a great place to chill out. It is a very beautiful place.

Paul T

Big Bear is pretty amazing. I would check there first. It's a few hours from downtown, up in the mountains. Beautiful lake, tons of trees, great neighbors. You'd love it for sure.

Paris Hilton

I would try north of Malibu, north of Point Magu...that's all right keep your money, you will need it up there...

lemonjelly

Santa Barbara is two hours or less from LA, and a very nice drive or train ride up right along the coast. Dogs are very popular here, with several off leash areas - like Hendry's Beach and the Douglas Family Preserve.

The city is big enough to offer a variety of home values, and for the most part, living space is peaceful and you are left alone.
The city is also bordered by coastline and the Santa Ynez mountains. You can get to the beach within 5-10 minutes from just about anywhere, and be up in wine country and the hills in about 20 minutes.
Lots of hiking spots to views or to hot springs.
The food scene is vastly improving with more restaurants highlighting local ingredients (try Hungry Cat, Square One or Julienne) and there are still plenty of hole-in-the-wall gems for chowhounds. I can blither on about food places for hours.
I was just at Red's cafe last night in an area called the Funkzone of Santa Barbara, and it was dog friendly, lots of happy dogs scampering about.

Good luck.

Sixagon

San Luis Obispo / Pismo Beach. Best place to live in Cali. I think you could make it to LA in four hours from there.

colin_davitt@sbcglobal.net

San Clemente. Small town on the ocean. I would move back in a second.

Agree with travelmaven above: Santa Barbara/Montecito area, or even around Ventura/Santa Paula/Ojai. Beautiful country, sandwiched between ocean and mountains. Lake Cachuma area makes for great hikes.

John Stanforth

Surprised (but happy) to see how many recommendations for San Luis Obispo / Pismo Beach / Avila there are here... I completely agree. Great area. I work in Santa Monica now, but still mostly live in SLO and just stay down here during the week. You could check out http://www.coastalvacationrentals.net/ for some ideas of places to stay since there aren't too many posh hotels in the area (my sister used to work there, but that was years ago, so unfortunately she can't help here).

bradleyjoyce@ymail.com

You cannot go wrong with San Luis Obispo / Pismo Beach / Avila Beach!!!!!!

Mark E

Carpinteria (Rincon) -- just south of Santa Barbara and 90 miles north of L.A. http://www.santabarbararealestatevoice.com/carpinteria/

Jen W

Mission Bay or Sunset Cliffs in San Diego. Both are right on the water for surfing, swimming, kayaking. SD County is home to many nice hikes just a few miles away, and you're just a short drive to the county mountains. Both areas offer rental homes, and I'm sure you can find one that will take pets with a deposit.

Peter Cooper

San Luis Obispo / Pismo Beach is absolutely awesome. SLO has some great restaurants and a wonderful college town feel, while Pismo is only 10 minutes away.

The even better thing is you can visit (and eat at) the Madonna Inn - http://www.madonnainn.com/ - possibly California's most awesome place full-stop.

Sean M

Yosemite, but it is 5 hours away.

loridmc

Why not Catalina? Great history, very relaxed atmosphere and a fun commute from the ordinary drive or fly.

Carole

LaJolla or where I live at Coronado.

mellie

I lived for one year in San Diego - it has it all. Friendly people, slower pace but still 1-2 hours from LA. You have the beach and mountains close, professional sports Chargers at Quaalcom and Padres at Petco Park) and wonderful downtown entertainment area. You can get a nicer home there than in LA for the money.

Pine Mountain club. Off the 5 on the Grapevine Near Gorman.

lisa m

I'm not sure about hiking, however, lately post children, I'm loving the central coast, especially Cambria. Property is a lot cheaper there compared to other more touristy places in CALIF. Many vacation home owners also rent out their homes to tourists.
Here is a link
http://www.beachcalifornia.com/cambria.html

(I don't particularly care for Morro Bay though)
Lisa

sevanspalm

Avila Beach which is a few minutes south of San Luis Obispo. Great south facing beach. In fact I know a great vacation home that was just built there that's on the market.

Craig O

Palm Springs? - 2hr 2min from Brentwood

William F

La Jolla, CA or Pismo Beach, CA.

copestir

Los Olivos, Jullian, Pismo, Avila Beach, Solvang, to name a few.

@windo

central coast for sure. i just love the drive up hwy 1 along big sur. beautiful, rugged coastline. best in convertible if you afford one. ;)

travelmaven

Montecito

acoolong

For a historic mountain getaway, Julian is my pick: http://www.julianca.com. It's known for its amazing apple pie. For the ocean, Solana Beach north through Encinitas is beautiful. Very laid back. And if you're into pizza, Solana Beach's Pizza Port is my all-time favorite.

Geoff S

Hi Jason,

I recommend the east end of Ojai Valley. It fits the spec (great views, great hikes), is amazingly tranquil, _and_ is on the near end of "2-4 hours outside of Los Angeles".

As bonus, the drive itself is less stressful and more scenic than drives in other directions, e.g. down through the OC or out through the SGV and IE.

@Taurus: sorry, no info on the local snakes.

Hope this helps.

Evil Ted

Hey Jason, I think the first answer is on the right track, but for my money, I've enjoyed Lake Arrowhead/Crestline more. It's closer by 45 min to an hour than Big Bear, yet feels "away" from it all. The lake is a bustle of activity during the peak seasons, yet nice and quiet most of the time. In fact, I see dog walkers often along the docks.

chieromancer

Your married to two bulldogs? Has Prop 8 passed and I missed it?!?

Oh wait, the wife AND the dogs. I get it.

Seriously, more and more lodgings are dog friendly. I'm sure there are whole websites devoted to the subject.

Consider Big Sur, the Monterrey region. If you want to go inland, consider someplace like Julian, Yosemite, or Sequoia.

Stuart M

I like the Russian River.

chuckles951

You do have $300,000 to $500,000? Because something really great like that will cost you that much. More if it is near a beach.

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